The convoy of former Bihar Chief Minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha leader Jitan Ram Manjhi was attacked on Thursday in Gaya while he was on his way to meet the family members of Lok Janshakti Party leader Sudesh Paswan, who was killed by suspected Maoists on Wednesday while he was campaigning for his wife contesting the panchayat polls.
Mr. Paswan, who was killed along with his cousin Sunil Paswan, was the block president of Dumaria which falls in the Imamganj constituency, represented by Mr. Manjhi in the State Assembly. Locals were reportedly angry over his late arrival in the village following the murders and they attacked his convoy and set a police vehicle and two motorcycles on fire. Police had to fire in the air to disperse the stone-pelting crowd and Mr. Manjhi was escorted to safety.
Villagers said that on Wednesday, five unidentified persons opened fire on both Mr. Paswan and his cousin with sophisticated weapons and killed them on the spot. They also set on fire some vehicles and left behind leaflets. The police said that the leaflets identified the killers as Maoists who had gunned down the two for being “police informers.”
